Entries tagged with: HUM

As you may know, the stacked Failure / Hum / Nothing tour hits NYC on August 13 at Webster Hall. That's now sold out, but there's still another chance to see Hum in NYC, and it's somewhere a little more intimate.

UPDATE: Ticketweb was listing the Webster show as sold out at the time of this post, but now tickets appear to be available.

Hum will hit Saint Vitus on August 12, the day before that Webster show. Tickets are on sale now. Updated dates are listed below.

Failure and Hum have both proved influential on the current wave of bands combining punk, metal, alternative rock and shoegaze, so it was cool enough when those bands decided to tour together this year. But now that tour is even cooler, because it's been revealed that one of the bands they influenced, Nothing, will open select dates.

They're on the NYC show, which happens August 13 at Webster Hall. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Nothing's Will Yip-produced sophomore album will be out at some point on Collect Records. Watch the recently-released video for their Nirvana cover, with the list of tour dates, below...

Hum are continuing their reunion this year with tours on either side of their upcoming Riot Fest Chicago appearance. Both legs are co-headlining with another reunited '90s-era band. The East Coast leg is with Failure, who share Hum's grungy, shoegazy style, and the West Coast is with emo band Mineral (whose reunion is fortunately not done, despite them saying the opposite).

The Hum/Failure run hits NYC on August 13 at Webster Hall. Presales for that whole run start Wednesday (6/10) via Pledgemusic, and general on-sale begins Friday (6/12).

It's no secret that the '90s are all the rage right now. The internet (and maybe even your real life) is filled with nostalgia for everything from Pogs to Nickelodeon cartoons to Tamagotchis and this reality check from The Onion that the '90s weren't only Pogs, Nickelodeon cartoons and Tamagotchis. Indie rock is no exception. The sounds of the Alternative Nation era can be heard in many of today's indie bands, and countless '90s OGs have reformed to excellent results, playing not just to the people who saw them the first time around but to many new, younger fans. When it comes to discussing '90s rock, we usually turn the conversation towards critically acclaimed bands like Pavement, Superchunk, Archers of Loaf, Built to Spill, Neutral Milk Hotel, and My Bloody Valentine or huge bands like Nirvana, Weezer, and Radiohead. You don't need another list telling you those bands are great. (But if you do, those lists are easily Googleable and recommended!) Instead, here's an alternative (pun intended) way of looking at the decade. Here's a list that highlights nine great bands who seem like they're starting to get re-evaluated a bit and starting to get the credit they deserve (some more than others).

I'm not trying to take the obscurer-than-thou route either. In fact, there's a good chance you've heard of all of these bands. All of them were on major labels. Some didn't have enough hits to get legitimately popular or remembered for more than one or two songs, but because of their MTV/KROQ associations they weren't very indie-cool either. Some achieved more mainstream success (often by changing their sound), an even bigger indie cred killer. But all of them are doing cool stuff right now, whether it's new albums, vinyl reissues, tours of the classic material, or new related bands. Almost all of them also have a clear influence on younger, modern bands. Whatever it is, it's reminding us why they were such great artists to begin with.

Of course this list could've had way more than nine bands. So feel free to comment telling us which ones you would've included and which ones you think we should've left off. Check out the list (in no particular order), with commentary and song streams, below.

I can say without any reservations that this was a moment I had thought about for nearly 15 years. HUM was a band that I worshiped from my mid teenage years until well into my twenties. Their two major label records, You'd Prefer An Astronaut and Downward is Heavenward, I clutched tightly against my chest and listened to on repeat in the closed world of my angst-fueled bedroom. Next to ninja turtles bed sheets, posters of Nirvana and Issac Asimov novels, were cassette and CD copies of both albums. I can still remember hearing when I was 13 or 14 that HUM would be playing a small festival show at Worlds of Fun with my other favorite band of the time, Kill Creek. I've been beating myself up for missing that show for over a decade. -[Demencha]

If you missed them (possibly because you live in the East Coast), we also have a consolation prize in the form of a live recording via Cavis Tapes who recorded the whole Fun Fun Fun Fest set and posted it as a free download, Grab that before the link expires.

You can also get your Hum fix via a tribute LP which was recently released via Pop Up Records. The record features contributions from names like The Esoteric, Constants, Junius, City of Ships, and many others.

So far Hum has not announced any more shows. More of those belated Hum pictures from Fun Fun Fun Fest are below...

Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011 came to a close on Sunday night. It was another successful year for the well-rounded music fest, and the end of its first in the larger (and much dustier) Auditorium Shores. And though Ryan Gosling may have been the most talked about artist at the festival (Danzig was a close second), the real star was festival organizer Transmission Enertainment for putting together such a kickass lineup on four stages for three days straight (not to mention a mechanical bull) (and skate and bike ramp and tons of good food and vendors and merch and posters and wrestling) (and Turquoise Jeep).

After Hum and then a quick set of comedy by metal comedian Brian Posehn (he did his Slayer joke and one that involved Pantera), Slayerclosed out the large Orange stage on Sunday (the other metal acts played on the slightly smaller Black Stage all weekend, but the Orange was the biggest and actually specially built to Slayer's specs).

Slayer wasn't the only wild headliner of the day though. In fact, that's an understatement. Trash Talk played after Henry Rollins did his set of spoken word in the Yellow Tent because Trash Talk had to miss their originally scheduled set on the Black Stage earlier in the week due to a family emergency. Thanking everyone for missing Slayer to see them (actually not true because it ended up Trash Talk was done before Slayer even started), Trash Talk started their hardcore insanity by pointing out that they were on the only stage with no barricade (the stage comedians usually played). Circle pits, stagediving, stage crowding, grabbing the mic, pumping fists (and skateboards) and just general craziness characterized the next 20 minutes or so.

The always controversial Odd Future drew their own giant and enthusiastic crowd to their headlining set on the Blue Stage, and Blonde Redhead closed out the Black Stage to a more intimate and chilled out audience (in the location that was metal, punk, garage and hardcore the rest of the weekend).

Here is our second set of pictures from the final day of the fest, including Asobi Seksu, the reunited Hum, We Were Promised Jetpacks (who just played NYC and one of our CMJ day parties), Odd Future, G-Side, Austra, Grimes, MNDR, Mates of State, Budos Band, Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, Architecture in Helsinki, Del the Funky Homosapien, Brian Posehn, Flying Lotus, Brody Stevens, Trash Talk, Henry Rollins, and more SLAYERRRR.

"Matt Talbott tells me there's some Hum shows coming this fall! I don't have all the details yet, but here's what I know: there will be one on September 10th, and it won't be in Champaign. A show in Champaign is possibly going to be planned for September 9th, and they are playing Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, TX in November." -[h-u-m.net]

The above quote comes from a Hum fansite, and while we have yet to receive official word, it does seem within the realm of possibility considering that Hum have reunited occaisionally since officially dissolving in 2000. More news to come.

Hum released You'd Prefer an Astronaut in 1995 and the follow-up Downward Is Heavenward in 1998.